Established: In the Department of the Navy, effective upon the
formal transfer of sovereignty over the Danish West Indies from
Denmark to the United States, March 28, 1917, under authority of
an act of March 3, 1917 (39 Stat. 1132).

Predecessor Agencies:

Government of the Danish West Indies (Danish West India and
Guinea Company, 1672-1754; Danish Crown, 1754-1917)

Transfers: To Department of the Interior by EO 5566, February 27,
1931; and subsequently, within that department, to Division of
Territories and Island Possessions, by Secretary's Order 1040,
February 13, 1936; to Office of Territories, by Administrative
Order 2577, July 28, 1950; to Deputy Assistant Secretary for
Territorial Affairs, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public
Land Management, effective July 1, 1971, by Secretary's Order
2942, June 30, 1971; to Office of Territorial Affairs, May 7,
1973, pursuant to Secretary's Order 2951, February 6, 1973; to
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Territorial and
International Affairs, Department of the Interior, by Secretary's
Order 3049, February 14, 1980.

Functions: Administers the executive, legislative, and judicial
responsibilities of the United States over the U.S. Virgin
Islands.

History: Danish West Indies, variously settled between 1672 and
1735, administered under royal charter by the Danish West India
and Guinea Company, 1672-1754, and directly by Danish Crown,
1754-1917, except for a few months in 1801 and period 1807-15,
when under British occupation. Islands sold by Denmark to the
United States by treaty signed August 14, 1916, and ratified by
the U.S. Senate, September 7, 1916.

Textual Records: Governor's orders, issued at St. Thomas, 1672-
1840, and St. Croix, 1733-1862. Daybook of Johan Lorentz, the
Vice Commandant at St. Thomas, 1694-97. Governor Peter Clausen's
letters to foreign officials, 1774-84. Governor Peter Carl
Frederik von Scholten's letter books, 1834-53. Governor Christian
Helweg-Larsen's official records, 1916. Drafts of letters to
Denmark, 1778-1831. Letters to Denmark, and to island officials
transmitting instructions from Denmark, 1874-1917. Correspondence
with consular officials in St. Thomas, 1839-1916. Correspondence
and reports concerning education, 1876-1917. Protocols and other
records of the sanitary, poor, health, quarantine, hospital,
road, and other quasi-executive governmental commissions in St.
Thomas and St. Croix, 1853-1917. General ledgers for St. Thomas,
1816-1908, and St. Croix, 1741-1850. Duplicate accounts of the
St. Thomas colonial treasury, 1829-1916. Tax lists for St.
Thomas, 1823-54, and St. Croix, 1743-1850. Lists of the King's
Negroes, 1820-33. Reports about slaves' appraised value, 1846-52,
and sugar exported from St. Croix, 1835-92. Record book of
government-owned sugar plantations, 1835-88. Microfilm copies of
records of the Danish West India and Guinea Company, 1672-1740,
and of the West Indian Local Archives, West Indian Government on
St. Croix, 1755-1863 (19 rolls). Records relating to
insurrections, 1848, 1878. Miscellaneous administrative records,
1855-1917.

Microfilm Publications: T39, T952.

Related Records: Some records of the Danish administration of the
islands are in the National Archives of Denmark (Rigsarkivet),
Copenhagen, and in Danish provincial archives. Other records of
the islands, chiefly relating to land titles, are in the Bancroft
Library, University of California, Berkeley, CA. Remaining in the
Virgin Islands are all extant land records from 1754 to the
present time. The Library of Congress has transcripts relating to
the Danish West Indies, 1653-1790, copied from records in the
Danish archives and other depositories.

Textual Records: Reports and rolls of the royal military force at
St. Thomas, 1802-86. Military letter books from St. Croix, 1854-
81. Correspondence and other records relating to St. Thomas
Harbor, 1854-1917.

Textual Records: Annual reports, 1917-49. Orders and
proclamations issued by the Governor, 1917-43. Executive
officials' miscellaneous correspondence, 1920-50. General files
concerning island government, 1917-43. Radiograms sent and
received, 1917-49. Records relating to central administration
budgetary and other fiscal matters, 1920-41. Records concerning
the budgets for St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John, 1921-42.
Correspondence about passports, 1917-43. Registration
certificates and correspondence about trademarks and patents,
1918-33. Inventories of property and furnishings, chiefly for
executive mansions, 1940-49. General files of an office
successively known as the Office of the Despatching Secretary,
the Lieutenant Governor, and the Administrator for St. Croix,
1917-40.

Textual Records: Correspondence and related records of the Aide
for Public Welfare, 1923-30. Records of the Director of the
Department of Agriculture, Commerce, and Labor, 1925-31. Subject
files of the Commissioner of Finance, 1927-46. Publications of
the Director of Community Activities, 1931.

Textual Records: Correspondence of the Food Commission, 1917-20.
Records of the supervisor of the Civilian Conservation Corps
(CCC), Virgin Islands, 1939-43. Correspondence of the Council for
Defense, Municipality of St. Thomas and St. John, 1941-42.
Correspondence of the manager of the Bluebeard Castle Hotel at
St. Thomas, 1935-37.

Bibliographic note: Web version based on Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States. Compiled by Robert B. Matchette et al. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1995.
3 volumes, 2428 pages.